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Dentsu One hires Abhinav Sharma for head of strategy role

Dentsu One Malaysia has appointed Abhinav Sharma (pictured) as head of strategy, in a bid to raise the standard of strategic thinking at the agency, offering more consumer-centric solutions with greater impact in the market for growth. He reports to CEO Michelle Ong.

In a statement to A+M, the network’s spokesperson said Dentsu One worked closely with its parent company Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) Malaysia to support its strategic planning needs prior to Sharma’s appointment. With him on board, Dentsu One will now be able to place “a lot more emphasis” in the area and strengthen its offering to clients.

Before his new role, Sharma was head of strategic planning at Geometry Global Malaysia for more than two years, according to his LinkedIn. Prior to that, he was national planning director at McCann Worldgroup Malaysia, where he spearheaded strategy across the entire client base. He also served as head of communications planning, Greater China, at OMD Shanghai.

Sharma has also headed planning across Leo Burnett, McCann Erickson, Saatchi & Saatchi and Bates 141 in Malaysia. He has developed brand and communication strategies over a range of clients including P&G, Nestle, Coke, Pepsi, Maxis, Samsung, Mead Johnson, L’Oreal, Kraft, Nokia, Heineken and KFC, among others.

“The intense level of collaboration that takes place across all DAN agencies is a league on its own and that has indeed piqued my planning curiosity. This collaboration is no doubt great for business as we’re able to deliver more innovative solutions to our clients, but it’s also a personal growth for me to learn from this collaborative network,” Sharma said.

“That aside, I think an immediate focus for senior planners is pretty much the same everywhere – business, business and more business. While that’s a tangible business focus, it’s the other stuff that’s perhaps a bigger draw for me. Michelle and I go way back, and we’ve always wanted to partner together one day and create a culture of openness, collaboration, and tap into each person’s creativity,” he added.

“Sharma is a great addition to the leadership team. As he rightly puts it, we’re advocates of an open, creative culture for this digital age. The key is to leverage each other’s strength as I firmly believe that all of us have something to bring to the table. With our goals aligned and with the entire team dedicated to moving forward together, we’re set on growing our clients’ businesses as we grow our own,” Ong said.